Assembly appoints head to ethics office (Updates)

(UPDATES: With salary of new position)

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Monday appointed an executive director to the new office of Ethics and Compliance in the chamber.

Heastie (D-Bronx) appointed Jane T. Feldman after he said she was recommended by a bipartisan committee. She will be paid $120,000 a year.

The appointment comes after Heastie promised to try to restore public confidence in the Assembly after former Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) was indicted on corruption charges earlier this year.

Several other Assembly members and senators have also been indicted in recent years including former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), earlier this year.

Feldman had been executive director of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission and had founded the Rocky Mountain Ethics Consulting firm. She had also been an assistant state attorney general in Colorado after starting her career in the Manhattan district attorney's office.

"After years of building a career surrounding government and ethics, I am excited to return to my home state to help the Assembly accomplish its ethics and policy goals," Feldman said.

Assembly member Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) called Feldman "a perfect fit for this newly created and important position.

"Her years of experience dealing with ethics and governance will allow her to help train and guide the Assembly going forward," said Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor.